Genealogical Source Material in the Historical Society of Delaware

Genealogical Source Material in the Historical Society of Delaware DALE FIELDS T HIS talk is concerned with source material, either in printed or manu- script form, and will mention only briefly published genealogical works such as the Biographical and Genealogical History of the State of Delaware, published by J. M. Runk & Co.; The History and Biographical Encyclopedia of Delaware, by McCarter and Jackson; Delaware Past and Present, Volumes III and IV, by Henry Clay Reed; and History of Wilmington, 1894, published by the Every Evening Newspaper. These books are useful as general reference works to those concerned with families who have some claim to prominence in the state. There are two works, however, which deserve more attention. They are the two general histories of Delaware that pay particular attention to names: Scharf's History of Delaware, and History of the State of Delaware by Henry C. Conrad. The particular importance of Conrad's work lies in his indexing of the civil lists for all state and county officers, thus aiding the researcher to readily identify many names, and place them in their locale. Scharf's History of Delaware in two volumes is another matter. 2 Most researchers are no doubt well aware that there are many errors in it because of the manner of its compilation and the rush to get it into print without proper proof-reading; therefore one must be on guard in using it. It contains a wealth of material, but its organization is such that a guide is necessary to use it for the best employment of the user's time, since it is poorly indexed. Volume I deals with the history of Delaware in a general way from the days of the Indians up to the date of publication in 1888. Volume II is the one of most importance to the genealogist. It is here that a knowledge of the organization of the state is important. Scharf used, as his divisions of material, the counties and the hundreds into which they are divided, rather than in townships, so that it is necessary to locate the area of interest before beginning research. The term "hundred" instead of township remains in use today only in Delaware, although in early colonial days it was also used in 86 Genealogical Source Material 87 Maryland and Virginia. The origin of the word in its political sense is obscure. In feudal times, it was associated with the amount of land necessary for a vassal to hold in order to produce 100 fighting men at the demand of his liege lord. In later times, in England, it referred to a division of a county having its own local court. The use of the term in Delaware stems from the instructions of William Penn as to the taking up of land in the three Lower Counties. In a letter he wrote to the justices of Sussex County on 25 10th month (December) 1682,3 Penn directed "That you Endeavour to seat the Lands that shall hereafter be taken up in the way of Townships; As three Thousand Acres Amongst Tenn familys; if single persons, one Thousand Acres Amongst Tenn of them; Laid out in the nature of A Long square." In other words, the land that would accommodate 100 families on sufficient acreage to give them a livelihood. The first actual use of the term "hundred" applying to a political division in Delaware, appeared in 1687 with reference to Duck Creek Hundred. Scharf used many of the old lists of tax records, petitions, road lists, etc., so that his History of Delaware is invaluable in a study of the old families of the state from the era of the Dutch and the Swedes through the English and the Irish who followed them. In regard to the Dutch and Swedish names, for example, he is useful in that he shows the transformation from the original native spelling to that of the English. But because the work is so poorly indexed, much valuable material and many names are buried in the text. However, the Historical Society of Delaware has been engaged in preparing a comprehensive index to this History which is in the last stages of checking before the final typing is started. This index is not only a name index but is also a subject one. The Colonial Dames of Delaware have made a number of grants of funds to assist the Society in the preparation of this index which will run to many pages when it is finally finished. A number of other books have been published which contain Delaware source material and should be consulted by the genealogist. A prime source are the works of Amandus Johnson concerning the settlement of the Swedes on the Delaware. Papers relating to the Dutch settlers have been published in The Archives of the Colony of New Amsterdam in 13 volumes and are very well indexed. Volume V of the Second Series of the Pennsylvania Archives contains records relating to both the Dutch and the Swedish settlers on the Delaware. With the conquest by the English of the Dutch empire in the New World, a number of problems arose concerning land tenure. The Duke of York Records, 1646-1679 give the original land titles under the suzerainty of the 88 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Duke of York. The published Archives of Maryland also contain much material concerning the settlement of peoples in the Lower Counties on the Delaware. The transition of ownership of the Pennsylvania Delaware lands from the Duke of York to William Penn can be followed in "The Breviate in the Boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Maryland" published in Volume XVI of the Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series. One of the difficulties in tracing families through land titles in the State of Delaware stems from the dispute between Penn and Baltimore over the boundaries between their respective grants. The final settlement was not reached until 1769 with the survey made by Mason and Dixon. Until that time there was a feeling that grants from Penn in the Lower Counties were never as secure as those in Pennsylvania. In some cases land was taken up by "squatters' rights" in areas where no one had previously settled. Records of some land purchases may be found in Volumes VII and XIX of the Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, but they are by no means complete. In spite of the question as to whom the overlordship would eventually belong, English settlers came in greater and greater numbers to take up land in what is now Delaware. Some of the published records for the period immediately following the granting of Pennsylvania to Penn by Charles the Second are: New Castle County Colonial Records, in two volumes, which covers court cases from 1676-1681; Land and Probate Records 1681-1705. Others that cover this period but extend beyond it are The Governor's Register, 1674-1851; A Calendar of Wills, New Castle County, 1682-1800; Kent County, Delaware Probate Records, 1680-1800; Sussex County Probate Records, 1680-1800. An extremely important book concerning mainly Kent County, but also the rest of the state as well as Pennsylvania and Maryland, is A Calendar of Ridgely Family Letters, 1742-1899, compiled by Virginia Shaw and Leon DeValinger. These letters, while mainly concerned with social and family affairs, are full of references to people of Dover and the state, as well as the friends and connections of the Ridgely family. They were found in an attic stuffed into two pillow cases! It was the kind of a find that directors of historical and genealogical societies dream about discovering. All of the above books are well indexed and of considerable value to the genealogist. For the Revolutionary period there are a number of works, the most important being the first three volumes of The Delaware Military Archives which cover the French and Indian war, as well as the Revolution. Another most important work is the compilation of the Oaths of Allegiance which appeared in the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine from April, 1941, through February, 1942. On the governmental side are the Minutes Genealogical Source Material 89 of the Council of Safety and the Minutes of the Council of the Delaware State, 1776-1792, each of which was published by the Historical Society of Delaware. Diaries and journals dealing with the period have also been published: The Orderly Book of Caleb Prew Bennett at the Battle of Yorktown, 1781; "The Journal and Order Book of Captain Robert Kirkwood, Delaware Regiment Continental Line;" " and the "Diary of Captain Thomas Rodney." In addition to these contemporary accounts, a number of authoritative works have as their base an exhaustive examination of manuscript material: The New Castle County Loyalists and The Kent County Loyalists, both by Harold Hancock. Christopher Ward's book, The Delaware Continentals, 1776-1783, contains much of value to the genealogist, as well as being one of the best books on the Revolutionary War. The Regiment of the Delaware Continentals fought in every battle of major importance under Washington in the north, and under Greene and Gates in the south, with the exception of the battle of Princeton. There the regiment was represented by its colonel, John Haslet, who became involved in the battle on his way south on a recruiting mission and lost his life in the battle. For the published records concerning the War of 1812, Volumes IV and V of Mr. DeValinger's Military Archives chronicle the participation of Delawareans in that war. Church records are an indispensable part of the genealogist's research. Those published for Delaware are of congregations located in New Castle County, except for those records appearing in the book Some Records of Sussex County, by C. H. B. Turner. The first church in Delaware was Swedish, and was called the Crane Hook Church, about which Jeannette Eckman has written so well. In 1910, Horace Burr published The Records of Holy Trinity Church, originally called "Old Swedes" Church. His volume gives a translation of the Swedish birth, death and baptismal and marriage records of the congregation from 1697 to 1773, and extracts from the English records 1773 to 1800. The translation was so inaccurate, however, that Courtland B. and Ruth L. Springer decided to retranslate these records, with annotations identifying the persons mentioned. Their translation of burial records and communicant records was published in part in Delaware History, Volumes V and VI. After her husband's death Mrs. Springer continued the translation, and a typescript of the records, including the baptisms, is in the library of the Historical Society of Delaware. There also is a book of photostats of the birth, death, marriage and baptismal records of this congregation for 1800 to 1860. 90 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Tombstones that were in the burial ground of the First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington before their removal are listed in the History of the Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. For the New Castle area, one should consult the Records of Immanuel Episcopal Church. The Welsh Tract area, near Newark and Glasgow, Delaware, is represented by two works: Pencader Presbyterian Church, Glasgow, Delaware, and The Welsh Tract Primitive Baptist Church. Mention should be made of the work being done by the Delaware Chapter, DAR, in the collection and presentation of the Bible records of colonial families. This is an extremely valuable and lengthy study in which they are engaged; there are now eleven volumes of such work in the library of the Historical Society of Delaware. Another area of great importance to the genealogist is that of City Directories. The first one for Wilmington was published in 1814, but no others followed until 1845. From that date up to the present day the Library has a complete run. Early newspapers do not yield the harvest of local news that they do today, but should not be ignored, as often a search in them is most rewarding. The Historical Society of Delaware has a very complete record of the early newspapers of the state. and also has the microfilms of the Pennsylvania Gazette and the complete new reprint edition. As the Delaware 1790 Census records were burned, Mr. Leon DeValinger by a most dedicated labor put together a reconstructed census for 1790, based on the tax records of the three counties. It was published by the National Genealogical Society in 1954 and reprinted in 1962. The 1800 Census for Delaware has also been published Inaddition to the above-mentioned books, the Library also has a large number of family histories which are of interest to Delawareans. Many of them are national in scope and so serve researchers from other states. Because of the close ties that existed between Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey in colonial times, the Library includes the standard genea logical references for these states. The series of published Archives of Maryland, already mentioned, Brumbaugh's Colonial Records, Baldwin's Index of Maryland Wills, and the indispensable work of Mrs. Pasano form the base for our Maryland works. We have the Pennsylvania Archives series, and the publications of both the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, as well as many books of basic importance for genealogical study. The New Jersey holdings are not large, but do include the published Archives series for that state. For other colonial states, we have most of the standard publications and the magazines of their historical and genealogical societies. Genealogical Source Material 91 The value of printed records lies in the ease of their dissemination to libraries, thereby affording their more widespread use. But there is nothing that takes the place of the actual record and the thrill of discovery when the long sought name appears in a deed or will.' So often a whole family line is made clear just by one document. The human touch, wry wit, and racier items of old scandals appear in original records but are often deleted in the printed versions. The use of original deeds and wills is open to the public in the counties of Kent and Sussex in Delaware, but the offices of record in New Castle County are closed to' the public. Therefore the manuscript holdings in the Historical Society of Delaware are of increased importance to the genealogist as it provides easy access to important source materials. Our largest deed holdings concern the county of New Castle. They include deeds, mortgage bonds, depositions, surveys, patents, draughts and agreements of various kinds having to do with land. The earliest date from the 1670s. The index for these records is in chronological order as well as by name; it goes only through 1800, but we have a large number of deeds for the county for the nineteenth century through 1890. A list is being made of this material, and it is hoped that it, too, will soon be completely indexed as is the earlier material. Our holding of Kent County deeds is not so large, but they begin in 1680 and run through 1828. Our Sussex County deed holding is small, and it would be well to consult the court house at Georgetown for this material, and the court house at Dover for additional Kent County material. Wills in the Historical Society of Delaware are not maintained in a separate collection, but are interspersed within the manuscript records according to the name of the testator. It is hoped that as the manuscript collections are recatalogued, a name and chronological index will be made for these, as has been done for the deeds. There are probate records in the State Archives at Dover, including wills, administrative accounts, settlements and inventories, which date from 1676 to 1916. Another area of importance to the genealogist lies in the collections of public and official records that have strayed into the keeping of historical societies. They represent almost every variety of record kept by county and town officials. Those in the Historical Society of Delaware are mainly New Castle County records, and include such items as court records, license applications, poor laws, tax and assessment lists, election returns, naturalization records (1829-1858), marriage records, and miscellaneous Wilmington and state records. A detailed listing of such records is available in the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. 92 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Church and cemetery records in the manuscript division of the Historical Society of Delaware are comprised of books, lists, roll books, minutes, and marriage and baptismal records. Not all of these categories are found for each denomination, nor are they continuous records. Those for Old Drawyers (Presbyterian) Church, for example, include three books of minutes, 17321868, but session minutes, list of members, marriages and baptisms for the nineteenth century only, trustees minutes, 1782-1906, and tombstones in the church burial ground from the early 1790s to 1890. Our records for the Society of Friends of Wilmington include lists of transfers, 1795-1812; membership lists for 1807, 1841, 1864-1887; and burial permits for interment in Wilmington Friends burial ground, 1824 through 1928. Additional records of Wilmington and Delaware Friends may of course be found in the Friends Historical Library at Swarthmore. A book of marriage records of Newark Monthly Meeting, copied by John Valentine Hollingsworth, begins in 12 month (February) 1692/3 and continues to 1777.' The oldest Methodist Church in Wilmington is the Asbury Methodist Church, established in 1798. Unfortunately it is no longer kept in good repair. In its cemetery many prominent Wilmingtonians were interred, including Allan McLane of Revolutionary war fame. The earliest list we have for this church is the sexton's list of burials for 1840. But we do have complete records from 1879-1895 of Sunday-school attendance records, minutes of meeting, financial items, and occasional mention of deaths. There are scattered records of other churches, such as the marriages by the Baptist Elder Rittenhouse, 1856-1901; a German Lutheran Sunday-school roll book for 1860; minutes of the Friendship Methodist Episcopal Church, 1782-1906; church records of Christ Church in Broad Creek and St. Philip's Chapel at Laurel, 1853-1857. Our Catholic records consist of two unindexed typescripts on the development of the Roman Catholic Church in Delaware taken from the records of the American Catholic Historical Society, and are based on original sources. The excerpts from the diary of the Reverend Patrick Kenney (1816 through 1819, 1827) give us some of the Catholic names in the New Castle area. His duties extended to West Chester and Concord in Pennsylvania, so the names are indicative of Chester County Catholics and of Delaware Catholics. The article on the Hollahan family and their home, Cuba Rock, contains much of interest, since Cornelius Hollahan created a haven of Catholicism among Quakers, Episcopalians and Presbyterians of New Castle County. Manuscript books, such as journals, ledgers, diaries, etc., should also be examined for the light that they throw on family history. Eventually the Genealogical Source Material 93 Society hopes to have all this manuscript material indexed in such a manner that each name appearing in a document will appear on an index card. We have a name file in which appear facts gleaned from newspapers and books over the years and includes births, baptisms, marriages and deaths. The number of cards in this file runs into thousands. We also have a collection of family charts and family histories accumulated through the research of other genealogists. Needless to say, these records are not acceptable as authoritative works unless the source of the information is cited. All newspaper items should be rechecked to be sure that the date is copied correctly. We also have a subject file which contains material gleaned from newspapers and other publications. Under the omnibus heading of "Lists," one can find assessment lists from the Delaware Gazette of 1850 and later years. Passengers arriving at New Castle and Wilmington are listed in the same newspaper in 1789 and 1790; more than 400 names are given, most of which are Irish. There are also many Civil War lists, taken from the newspapers of the time. Road account lists for the hundreds of New Castle County appear each year in the Delaware Gazette, but they are not indexed as to the issue in which they appear. Hopefully our early newspapers one day will be indexed, not only for political lists, but for the scattered vital statistics that appear in them. NOTES Presented by Mr. Fields when the Genealogical Society members, as guests, toured the museum of the Historical Society of Delaware in Wilmington on Thursday, 16 November 1972. John Thomas Scharf also wrote several histories of Maryland, one of St. Louis, Missouri (1883), one of Westchester County. N.Y. (1886), and one of the Confederate States Navy (1894). 3 The instructions are entered in the original Sussex County Court Minutes, 84, among the Penn Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. See also —The Delaware Regiment in the Revolution," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, IX (1886), 451. b Historical Society of Delaware Papers, LVI (1910)• Ibid., VIII (1888). These last two items may be purchased from the Historical Society of Delaware. For example, there is a manuscript will in the Society that bequeaths the land and buildings thereon to the son who lives longest with his mother, the relict of the decedent. Then there is the anecdote of the man from Kenton Hundred who left his bones to his enemies for them to make whistles out of them! 3 See also the Quaker antiquarian Benjamin Ferris's History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware (1846), the first history of the State of Delaware, and his My Kith and Kin which concerns not only the Ferris family of Wilmington but also in New England where they originated. The latter work has careful genealogical tables of interest to genealogists who are planning to write a family genealogy-